photography as art l113 session 2 - george mason university · (henri cartier-bresson) 31 unseen...

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PHOTOGRAPHY AS ARTL113 Session 2

Finding Photographic ART in

Ordinary Every Day Things

ByDan Feighery

25 September 2013

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Loudoun Campus

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General Course topics

Sep 18: Shooting the Light

Sep 25: Finding Photographic Art in Ordinary Every Day Things

Oct 2: Shooting Landscapes

Oct 9: Developing Your Personal Vision

First, lets consider two basic questions#1 What is Photography#2 What is Art

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What is Photography ?The art, science, and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film or electronically by means of an image sensor. (Ref: Wikipedia)

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It is much more than that.

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It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary. (David Bailey)

Quotes on Photography

(Ref: http://quote.robertgenn.com/getquotes.php?catid=227#.UgJXdG0RPOM

One of the joys of photography is that you never know what will come at you from around the next corner. (Tom Ang)

Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art. (Ansel Adams)

Whether working or not, photographers are looking, seeing, and thinking about what they see, a habit that is both a pleasure and a problem, for we seldom capture in a single photograph the full expression of what we see and feel. (Sam Abell)

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So What is Art?

( Ref: Ayn Rand)

“A selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments

(Ref: Leo Tolstoy)

Art is use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another.

Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use.

(Ref: Frank Lloyd Wright)

The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture,...: (Ref: Google)

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So What is Art?

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Quotes on Photographic Art

"Art photography": "Photography that is, done to express the artist's perceptions and emotions and to share them with others".

"Fine art photography": "The production of images to fulfill the creative vision of a photographer. .

"Artistic photography": "A frequently used but somewhat vague term. The idea underlying it is that the producer of a given picture has aimed at something more than a merely realistic rendering of the subject, and has attempted to convey a personal impression“

Ref: wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-art_photography

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“Seeing Plus”In a letter to Ansel Adams (1/28/33), the photographer Edward Weston said, "photography as a creative expression -- or what you will -- must be 'seeing' plus: seeing alone would mean factual recording -- the illustrator of catalogues does that.

Pepper, 1930 by Edward Weston

The ‘plus’ is the basis of all arguments on ‘what is art’

Seeing the object is easy --even natural

But seeing in a specific way is the work of artistry

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Henri Cartier Bresson

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Henri Cartier Bresson

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Catching the Emotion (2)

Painting requires skill. Photography is created by the camera, and one cannot fully control what the camera sees. So people take many photographs because several must always be discarded. (Igor Babailov)

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Catching the Emotion (2)

Painting requires skill. Photography is created by the camera, and one cannot fully control what the camera sees. So people take many photographs because several must always be discarded. (Igor Babailov)

But this simply replicates a time and placeIs it something you’d hang on the living room wall?

Would you hang what they are producing on a wall?Is your answer different than image of ball player? Why? 13

•Both render an image in some way Painting vs. Photography (1)

•What do you think makes photography different from painting? Photographer can only replicate what exists Painter can vary the scene at will… …? …?

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AWARENESSHow high your awareness level is determines how much meaning you get from your world. Photography can teach you to improve your awareness level. (Ansel Adams)

Picket Fence, Sierra Nevada (c 1936) Tree Detail, Sierra Nevada (c 1936)

In sequencing a 45-print Adams exhibit (1938, American Place, NY), Alfred Stieglitz placed these two extreme close-ups side by side.

By placing the hand-made object next to the organic object, Stieglitz made these metaphors doubly metaphorical as micro cosmic equivalents of human and natural scenes(Ref: Ansel Adams by Ann Hammond 2002 page 83)

TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES

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Forces you to really work on:

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Take lots of shotsFirst, try to ignore color

(set camera to give Black & White only)

Textures, Patterns, Shapes,Objects, Composition,

Lighting, Contrast,& Tones,

etc.

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Seeing Without the Color(0)

Stand someplace and find fifty different shots within 20 fit.

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Stand someplace and find a fifty different shots within 20 fit.

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Seeing Without the Color(4a)


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Seeing Without the Color(4b)


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After working your brain a bit in Black & White

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Composing (1)

Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house. Slowly you see more details – the colour of the slates and bricks, the shape of the windows. (Benjamin Britten)

Which side up?

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Seeing

'Seeing' is the talent - seeing within, seeing what can be, seeing what is. This 'seeing' could take 2 seconds or 2 years. (Gail Caduff-Nash)

If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe; if you look at it for the 1000th time, you are in danger of seeing it for the first time. (G. K. Chesterton)

People only see what they are prepared to see. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

We do a lot of looking: we look through lenses, telescopes, television tubes...Our looking is perfected every day, but we see less and less. (Frederick Franck)

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Seeing Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes. (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

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Unseen San FranciscoAbove all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes. (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

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Often Seen San FranciscoAbove all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes. (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

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From Near… or Far (1)

Would you hang this on your wall?

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From Near… or Far (2)

Would you hang this on your wall?

Decide what to include (1)

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when taking the pictutre


36Crop to this?

and when printing (or showing) the pictutre


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Or would you prefer this?

and when printing (or showing) the pictutre

Photographing someone else’s

Art

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Found Art (1)

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Seattle Art Museum

Found Art (2)

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Chihuly Garden and Glass - Seattle Center

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Found Art (3)

New York City Public Library

Everyday ArtAround the house

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• We do a lot of LookingBut are we really Seeing

Seeing everyday things at home (1)

Other than ordinary shots of Ordinary Objects

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Very Close in (1a)

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Very Close in (1b)

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Very Close in (2a)

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Very Close in (2b)

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More ordinary stuff around the house

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Writing Christmas Cards

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Lamp Shade

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Dinner Plates

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Plumb Bob

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Gravy Boat

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Bulb Auger

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Desert

Snacks - M&Ms

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3 Shots on Stained Glass

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Cheese Cake

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Looking at Red Peppers

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Seeing a Red Pepper(1)

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Stained GlassMight make an interesting

background

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(1)Try Stained Glass BackgroundsPiece of Wood

(1)Try Stained Glass BackgroundsJello

(2)Try Stained Glass BackgroundsDandelion

Try Stained Glass Backgrounds (3)

Gourds

Try Stained Glass Backgrounds (3)

Lily

(4)Try Stained Glass BackgroundsBroken Bulb

• Use a close-up or macro lens - Experiment with background materials

(1)Try Stained Glass Backgrounds

Photo Manipulation

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What makes it ArtIt is not a “postcard” shotIt’s different – I’ve not seen it just that way beforeI see something different --the more times I study itIt speaks to me An Affective reactionIt raises questions as I look at it.It is not socially offensive I like the harmonizing use of colorsI’d hang it on my wall? ???

photography as art l113 session 2 - george mason university · (henri cartier-bresson) 31 unseen...

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